Systems for providing information to a terminal have been proposed conventionally.
For example, in radio and television broadcasting, teletext broadcasting for superimposing (multiplexing) text code and graphic information as well as information related to broadcast programs and so forth on a broadcast signal, and for providing information to a television receiver and radio receiver by adding these to program content, has been carried out.
Information has been provided to portable radio and television devices by superimposing digitized information on vacant frequencies within the assigned channel range in radio broadcasts, in high-frequency domains of subcarriers used in stereophonic broadcasts, and within the blank scanning lines which are present between vertical synchronization and program image content in television broadcasts.
Systems for providing information to portable telephones by using a portable telephone with a camera function to capture a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark) which may be printed or displayed on a display, and for deciphering such codes, have already been put into practical use.
Such two-dimensional codes may include information such as URLs and product descriptions in coded form, so as to allow the user of the portable telephone to display information on the display of the portable telephone by reading the two-dimensional code. Where such a portable telephone has Internet access functionality, a website may be accessed by reading the URL, permitting information to be downloaded and displayed.
However, with the aforementioned conventional teletext broadcasting systems, existence of a large broadcast station or other such facility is required so that the digital information can be superimposed on the television or radio electromagnetic waves. Therefore, cost is high, and information cannot readily be provided to the terminal.
With regard to methods involving photograph capture of QR codes, these obviously are impossible to implement where the portable telephone terminal does not have a camera. Furthermore, even where the terminal is equipped with a camera, because the user must move the imaging unit of the portable telephone to a position at which the QR code can be recognized, which is not an easy matter when holding the portable telephone by hand, such methods are inconvenient in practice. For example, to correctly image and recognize the QR code, the QR code must be positioned at a predetermined size within the center of the photographed image while in a focused state, which is a very difficult task for beginners and those not familiar with the equipment.
There has therefore been an unsatisfied need for an information providing system that would address the above deficiencies in the conventional technology.